Resilient handle having accordianlike folds



RESILIENT HANDLE HAVING ACCORDIAN-LIKE FOLDS Original Filed June 20, 1967 Jan. 28, 1 969 w. H. ROBINSON Sheet of 4 INVENTOR.

h ML/flM H Fae/M90 BYW ATTORNEYS Jan. 28, 1969 w. H. ROBINSON 3,424,344

RESILIENT HANDLE HAVING ACCORDIAN-LIKE FOLDS I Original File-d June 20, 1967 Sheet 2 of 4 INVENTOR. MAL/AM M foam Jo I) T TOHNE Y5 Jan. 28, 1969 w. H. ROBINSON 3,424,344

RESILIENT HANDLE HAVING AGCORDIAN-LIKE FOLDS Original Filed June 20, 1967 Sheet 3. of 4 INVENTOR. 7 Mum/w FOB/460M W Jan. 28, 1969 w. H. ROBINSON 3,424,344

RESILIENT HANDLEHAVING AGCORDIAN-LIKE FOLDS Original Filed June 20. .1967 Sheet 4 of 4 INVENTOR- MLL/AM'H foe/Mia A 7' TOFNEKS United States Patent ()1 lice 3,424,344 RESILIENT HANDLE HAVING ACCORDIAN- LIKE FOLDS William H. Robinson, New Vienna, Ohio 45159 Continuation of application Ser. No. 647,377, June 20, 1967. This application Jan. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 701,467 US. Cl. 22094 4 Claims Int. Cl. B65d 25/28 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plastic closure for sealing and carrying a container and its contents. The closure includes a resilient plastic carrying handle that moves to a carrying position when grasped and automatically retracts to a position substantially flush with the closure surface when released.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 647,377 filed June 20, 1967, now abandoned.

Field of invention This invention relates to packaging and more particularly to an improved closure adapted to be sealed to a container and its contents and provided with means whereby a sealed closure-container and contents package may be lifted and carried when sealed together.

Prior art The prior use of flexible and other types of closures for hermetically or otherwise sealing a product within a container is exemplified by prior application Ser. No. 404,720 filed Oct. 19, 1964, now US. Patent 3,257,022. Similarly, a plastic closure provided with handle or lifting means is broadly disclosed in Schlotz Patent 3,156,374. However, the prior art of which applicant is aware contains no disclosure nor suggestion regarding a closure having lifting or carrying means suitable for lifting and/ or carrying a container and its contents when the closure has been affixed thereto.

Summary and objects In the packaging of food as well as other merchandise, it is desirable to provide closure means that can be easily and economically produced in desired quantities and which are useful and effective to enclose various types of contents within various types of containers. In certain instances, it is desirable that the container-closure combination be sealed to prevent leakage when the seal is subjected to a high pressure differential so as to be useful to provide a gas or vapor barrier when vacuum packaging, filling and sealing methods are employed. In other instances, the hermetic seal that is capable of providing air tightness or vapor tightness at relatively low pressure differentials is sufficient. In still other instances, it may be suflicient that the seal merely provide sufficient connection between the container and the closure so that the closure functions essentialy as a cover affixed to the container to avoid spillage of the contents or to avoid contamination of the contents by foreign material.

Closure members in accordance with the present invention preferably employ structures of molded plastic material or a combination of such material with other material in order to provide a tough durable structure having sufiicient resilience or elasticity as well as dimensional stability and which is capable of being sealed to a container by various known sealing methods, including heat sealing or welding or by methods involving the use of a sealing compound of a known type such as plastisols, or organosols, sealants of the heat or pressure sensitive type, or by the use of a suitable solvent. Although the 3,424,344 Patented Jan. 28, 1969 invention is not necessarily limited thereto, such plastic material may include, for example, polymericmaterials such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and the like. The closure devices and containers sealed thereto may have various shapes and configurations in accordance with the invention such as, for example, circular, oval, polygonal, etc.

Additionally, because of physical size, 'bulk or weight of such a sealed closure-container-content package, it is desirable to provide as a part of such package means for lifting and/or carrying the package. It is further desirable to provide such lifting and/or carrying means as a part of the closure structure. It is equally desirable to provide such lifting and/ or carrying means of adequate strength and durability and which are yieldable so that it is readily and easily graspable to facilitate lifting and/ or carrying of a sealed closure-container-content package and is also automatically retractable when released to minimize space requirements of such a package and to permit a plurality of such packages to be stacked vertically for display, storage and/or packing purposes without interference.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved device of the character described which can be manufactured economically and which includes such desirable structural and functional features and yet is of simple and durable construction.

Description These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a closure embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the handle portion of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged, partly broken, view of a fastening means for the handle of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a modification of the embodiment of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of the handle of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a plan view, similar to FIGURE 1, illustrating a further modified embodiment of the invention with the handle portion in retracted position;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view, partly broken away, illustrating an end portion of the handle of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation of the embodiment of FIGURE 6, with the handle shown in an erected position; and,

FIGURE 9 is a partial sectional view taken along arrows 9-9 of FIGURE 6.

Throughout the following description, like elements bear like reference numerals and the description is intended to be illustrative only, and not limiting, since various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention.

Referring to the drawings, a closure of the type described above and having dimensions and configurations suitable to sealingly engage and enclose a container and its contents is indicated generally at 10. In general, closure 10 comprises a central portion 11, a shoulder portion 12, a rim portion 13, and a yieldable handle 14 connected to some portion of closure 10 or molded integrally therewith.

As shown in FIGURES 1-3, handle 14 is a two-piece strap comprising portions 15, 16, the respective ends of which are connected to shoulder portion 12. A post 17 having an elongated head portion 18 depends from handle portion 15 and is disposed adjacent the distal end of portion 15. Post 17 extends through an elongated slot 19 disposed adjacent the distal end of portion 16 3 and is retained within slot 19 by the free end of handle portion and head portion 18 which portions, respectively, are disposed at opposite sides of handle portion 16.

Handle portions 15, 16 are connected to shoulder portion 12 by rivet-like portions 20 which are best shown in FIGURE 3. Portions 20 include a post 21 which depends from handle portion 16 and a similar post 21 also depends from handle portion 15. Post 21 terminates in an end portion 22 having an indentation 23 therein for receiving and guiding a rivet staking tool. Post 21 may be of customary circular cross section or, if desired to provide additional strength in a particular direction, post 21 and end portion 22 may be elongated as illustrated by the broken line in FIGURES 1 and 3.

If desired, portions 15 and 16 may be provided with raised portions 24 disposed opposite post 21 to simulate the appearance of a rivet head.

Assembly of the closure is achieved by inserting the depending posts 21 through suitable openings provided in shoulder portion 12. Such openings in general will be of slightly greater dimensions than the corresponding dimensions of post 21 but will be smaller than the overall corresponding dimensions of end portion 22. Thus, the material of shoulder portion 12 surrounding such opening is deformed slightly in order to prevent entry of end portion 22 and post 21 following which such deformed material is forced back into place and the rivet then staked in place by known staking methods. Portion 15 is then placed in a position 90 displaced from that shown in FIGURE 1 so that head portion 18 is in alignment and can be inserted through slot 19. Portion 15 is then rotated to the position shown in FIGURE 1 with post 17 thereby retained within slot 19, following which the corresponding post 21 and end portion 22 that depend from portion 15 are inserted and staked into shoulder portion 12 in the same manner as described above in connection with portion 16.

From the foregoing, use and operation of the device should be apparent to those skilled in the art. After filling a container with suitable contents, the closure is placed upon the container and afiixed or sealed thereto in a known manner. A hand or fingers thereof may be slipped beneath the handle 14 which is yieldable to the extent of movement of post 17 within slot 19 to facilitate grasping and lifting and carrying the closure-container and which upon being released will return to the position indicated in FIGURES 1 and 2.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5, handle 14 has been replaced 'by a modified one-piece handle 14a having accordion-like folds 14b disposed ad jacent each end thereof. The ends of handle 14a are connected to the closure 10' as described in connection with FIGURES 1-3 inclusive. Alternatively, if desired, handle 14a may be otherwise secured to closure 10 as by heat sealing, or, if desired, closure 10 and handle 14a may be molded together to form a one-piece handle and closure. The flexibility provided by the accordionlike folds 1411 allows handle 14a to readily yield when fingers are placed beneath the handle and yet provides sufficient strength for the lifting and/or carrying of a container-closure combination and, upon release of the handle portion 14a, the resiliency thereof causes it to return to the position illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5.

In FIGURES 6-9, there is illustrated a further embodiment in which a bail-type handle 14c is employed. Handle has legs 14d with end portions 1412 joined thereto by a neck portion 14f. The central portion 11 of closure 10 is connected to shoulder portion 12 by a sloping shoulder portion 11a in which there is provided an opening 11b corresponding in shape to that of end portion 142 of handle 14c. The leg portions are deflected inwardly and end portion 14c is inserted into opening 11b which result in the closure-handle assembly illustrated in FIG- URES 6 and 8. As is best shown in FIGURE 9, opening 11b is elongated with the greater dimension extend-.

ing innerly parallel to the central portion 11.

When it is desired to lift or carry the closure-container combination, fingers may be inserted beneath handle 140 which enables the handle to be raised to the lifting or carrying position as shown in FIGURE 8. In such position, the handle is twisted in the vicinity of neck portion 14 so that upon release of the handle, the resiliency of the handle material causes it to return to a substantially flat position adjacent central portions 11 as is shown in FIGURE 6.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention and it is intended in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A closure for a container having an upper surface and a resilient plastic handle of substantial longitudinal extent with opposite ends thereof being joined with said surface and having a first position substantially flush with said surface, said handle including accordion-like folds extending transversely of said longitudinal extent and being deformable to a carrying position for supporting said closure and a container when connected thereto and retractable by its resiliency to said first position when released.

2. A closure according to claim 1 wherein said handle is a strap-like member and said folds are spaced apart and disposed adjacent each of said ends.

3. A closure according to claim 1 wherein said handle is extensibly deformable.

4. A package comprising a closure according to claim 2 and a container connected thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 912,536 2/1909 Brown l61l5 3,137,423 6/1964 Tupper 220-94 3,325,044 6/1967 McCutcheon 2206O THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner. 

